


When Worlds Collide

by goodstoryfan



Category: Guardians of the Galaxy (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Angst, Angst and Feels, Ass-Kicking, Attempted Rape/Non-Con, BAMF Dick, Brotherly Love, Dick doesn't give a shit, F/M, Family, Fluid Sexuality, He's fed up with everything, How Do I Tag, I Don't Even Know, I'm Sorry, Identity Reveal, Kidnapping, M/M, Multi, Only some humor, Originally Posted on FanFiction.Net, Rape/Non-con Elements, Scars, Time Skips, don't expect much, emotional and physical, not a lot
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-15
Updated: 2017-03-15
Packaged: 2018-10-05 18:50:46
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 18,330
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10314722
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/goodstoryfan/pseuds/goodstoryfan
Summary: When Dick turns fourteen, he's captured by Ravagers in front of the team, who are powerless to stop it. Time Skip. It's eleven years later and he's now a part of the Guardians of the Galaxy. He's moved on from his life on Terra and is now Nightwing. What happens when Young Justice and some of the Justice League shows up on Xandar?





	1. Chapter One

**Earth- April 1, 2011**

His head hangs low as he walks through the cemetery. He doesn’t have to look up, he knows the way by heart now. The weather reflects his mood; gloomy and dreary. It should be like that on this day, he thinks as the rain drips down his face. There should be nothing even remotely cheerful. Dick can’t stand being around anyone today, the team included. They were too happy, too carefree. He couldn’t fake it today. Not on this day.

 _I met her in a club down in old Soho_  
_Where you drink champagne and it tastes just like cherry-cola_

These were his mom's favorites. He only listens to them when he starts thinking about them. It makes him feel kind of closer to his...his parents. His mom would sing them while she was cooking or cleaning or flipping through the air. She said that music was one of the things she loved when she came to the states, it was so diverse.

He always listens to their songs when he comes on the day of their...the day they...he just listens to them when he visits them. Just as the song changes, he comes to the two headstones that he knows too well.

 **_John Grayson, Loving Husband and Father_ **  
**_1971- 2005_ **  
**_Mary Grayson, Loving Wife and Mother_ **  
**_1974- 2005_ **

"Hey, mom. Hey, dad." He says softly.

 _If you need me, call me_  
_No matter where you are, No matter how far_  
_Just call my name, I'll be there in a hurry,_  
_You don't have to worry-_

He wish he could just call his parents and they would come right away, he doesn’t know how many times he has wished that over the years. Life wasn't that giving though.

He pulls out the flowers from his bag that were rested atop his Algebra II homework. He gently pulls them out and zips his bag back up, slinging it back onto his back. He sets the white roses in between the two headstones, standing for a minute staring down as them become water-sodden. He sinks down to the muddy grass, pulling his legs toward his chest. The water begins to soak his clothing, but he ignores it.

"I know if you were alive, you would chastise me for sulking on my birthday." He sighs, resting his chin on his knees. "I probably should celebrate, but I don't think I'm ready. I don’t think I’ll ever be ready. It’s-It’s just...I just...I just miss you guys. More than words can say." His voice breaks.

 _Hey Jude, don't make it bad_  
_Take a sad song and make it better_

Tears start streaming down his face, this song was her favorite. “I don’t know why I talk to your grave, maybe because it’s the last place you’re at. I don’t know even if you can hear me. If you can, I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry. I should have done something, anything. Sometimes I wish it was me instead of you. Sometimes I can’t take it. I-I-” He grips the grass trying to gain some semblance of control. “I love you both. You didn’t deserve to die, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” He accidently rips the grass out of the ground and despondently lets it fall through his fingers. He clutches onto his legs again, staring at the headstones with a gaze of complete desolation. The tears continue to trickled down his face, mixing in with the still pouring rain.

Caught up in his own grief, he doesn’t notice that the team is close by, standing by a tree. Wally wanted to follow Robin, he knows how bad this day is and wanted to be there for his best friend. This, of course, sparked the rest of the teams curiosity on where Robin was and they insisted they go with Wally. Now, they wish they hadn't came.

_"He looks so devastated. Who are they?" M'gann asked softly over the mind link._

_"They're, uh, his parents."_

M'gann gasps, stifling a sob. Conner wraps his arms around her, pulling her close so she could cry into his chest. His eyes remain on Robin’s form, a forlorn expression donning his face. Artemis and Kaldur look concerned. 

_"His parents! His parents died on his birthday." Zatanna says appalled._

Wally nods sadly, still keeping an eye on Robin.

_"How...how did they pass?" Kaldur asks, worried for their youngest teammate._

_Wally hesitates, not sure if it’s his place. He eventually decides that Robin probably won’t be able to tell and since they already know that they died, he’ll do it for Robin. "Murder...He saw it happen. It's why he became Robin, to take down their killer."_

The team process this for a moment, the mood quickly becoming mournful. They all knew why they became heroes, but none of them did it because of that reason. Robin was just a kid…

_"Should we go over there and comfort him?" M'gann asks, an itch to give him a hug creeping up her spine._

_"I don't know. He usually likes to be by himself today..." Wally trails off._

_"I think it would be wise to comfort him. Show him he is not alone on this most horrible day." Kaldur says._

The rest of the team nods towards one another and take a step forward towards him, despite the continuous warnings from Wally. As soon as they take a step forward, a blue light blasts down upon Robin's form. A ship is revealed to be the source of the light as it hovers over Robin. He begins to be pulled into the ship by the light, struggling against apparent confinement.

“ _Robin!_ ” Wally screams, running forward with the team. He slips in the mud onto his face and struggles to stand up.

Robin turns towards them at the sound of his name. His eyes widen at their appearance and he calls out desperately, “ _Guys!_ ”

Just as the team reaches the beam, Robin is pulled into a hatch at the bottom of the ship, still screaming their names. The ship blasts through the air towards the sky, leaving them standing in the rain.

“M’gann call the ship.” Kaldur orders, slightly shaken at what just occurred. “I will contact the league to tell them what happened.”

Wally stands behind the group, finally up from the mud. He dejectedly stands there, blankly staring at the limp white roses where Robin last stood.

* * *

 

**Knowhere, the Milano- 2022**

Dick opens his eyes to a faceful of blonde hair and the feeling of an arm around his waist. He’s confused for a moment before the events of last night dawn upon him.He smirks slightly as he pushes the girl’s- Gara? Gail? It started with a G...Gaina!- hair off of his face and slides out from under her arm. He silently slips some pants on, not bothering with a shirt. He softly pads out into the kitchen, seeing Peter pouring himself some coffee.

"I'll take some of that."

Peter jumps up and lets out a small scream, "Jesus, Dick. Don't do that!"

“Sorry. I don’t mean to, you know.”

“I know you don’t, but it still doesn’t make up for the thousand other times I’ve asked you not to.”

“We never learn.”

“One of our issues.” Peter laughs, handing Dick a mug with ducks smoking cigars on them. Dick snorts at the sight, but takes a sip. He remembers getting this cup. He picked it up off a trader about a year after he joined up with Peter.

Before he got with Peter, it was horrible. Well, not great at the least. After Yondu picked up Dick (still had no clue why), he was forced to become a Ravager. He hated the idea of stealing at first, it was what he fought against in his other life. It was his own stupid fault though. Dick had taken down all of Yondu's men before that stupid arrow floated right in front of his throat. Yondu saw that he was an amazing fighter and decided to keep him. So, begrudgingly, he became a Ravager.

To Dick's surprise, he actually found he didn’t hate stealing, enjoyed it even. It was like a game and he had to figure out new ways to win. He thought he would loathe it, that he would despise himself every time he did it. He didn't though, that surprised him the most. He had started stealing to survive, but it turned into more though. It was exhilarating and he grew up fighting thieves and burglars, but he never knew why the people stole. Now, he knew.

He started pick pocketing things for fun, though he didn't take anything important. It was always fun to see people's faces when they saw their stuff was taken. He couldn’t help but cackle before he slipped away.

He hated (and still hates somewhat) Yondu with a burning passion. He took his life away on Terra and Dick would never be able to go back. This Terra was closed off from the rest of the galaxy and his Terra, well. His Terra was in a different dimension. He literally had no way to get back because the way Yondu went was a one time deal.

Dick missed being Robin while he was a Ravager, though that feeling faded as the years went on. Once in a while, he would see a burning building or a mugging and help out, feeling like his old self a bit, but those times were rare. If he had to steal something that could hurt people, he would send it to Nova Corp and lie to Yondu, taking the consequence.

Around his sixteenth birthday, Dick realized that he was settling into his life as a Ravager. It scared the shit out of him, but he finally accepted that he could never go back to his life from before and should just move on.

A little after his sixteenth birthday, he met Peter Quill while being forced to clean the ship after he 'failed' a mission. Dick had been scrubbing the floor when Peter had stepped aboard the ship, his shoes mud crusted. Dick had tilted his head up to bitch him out about it when he paused mid sentence. He looked human. Peter looked at him surprised, asking him where he was from. Dick told him and Peter. Was. Pissed. While Peter was going full rage on Yondu, Dick learned that he was from this dimension’s Terra and Yondu had taken him when he was a kid too. Afterwards he walked right up to Dick, still fuming a bit. "Hey, kid, you wanna get out of here?"

Dick had thrown his scrubber over his shoulder and said, "Hell, yeah!" without even processing that he didn't even know Peter. He grabbed his stuff (including his last items of Terra) and followed Peter to his ship. It was the best decision of his life.

Peter and Dick had found out that they had a lot in common as time went on. They both lost their parent(s) at the same age, they had both been taken from Terra by Yondu for no fucking reason, their mom's actually liked some of the same music, and their personality's were similar. Peter was more cocky and let loose more than Dick did, but it didn't matter. Dick liked him all the same. He especially liked that Peter's code name was after something his mom called him, like he used to have with 'Robin'.

A little after the sorta rescue, Dick had to pick a code name for himself as requested by Peter. He didn't want to use Robin, that part of his life was done and just made him sad on the things he missed. He had decided on 'Nightwing'.

Dick has had to bail or break Peter out of prison a couple times, which got them even closer. They became best friends even though Peter was like 16 years old than him. A fact Dick made so much fun of. It’s okay though, Peter has gotten him with a lot of dick jokes.

Then after a mission to Morag, everything changed. The orb that they had stolen sent a certain green assassin after them.

It would have been easier to get away from her if a talking raccoon and a humanoid plant hadn't also been trying to capture them for ransom money sent out by Yondu. The prick.

Now, this resulted in a fight and then the capture of him, Peter, and their newfound kinda-sorta-maybe allies. He was going to get let go because of his helpfulness to Nova, but he punched a guard in the face. He didn't want to get separated from Peter.

They were only in _The Kylnn_ for two days, but it wasn't that bad. If you take out that the guards shocked both him and Peter, that Peter almost angered a huge guy named Drax trying to make sure he didn't kill the green chick, having to give up 30,000 units for something they didn't need, and the actual escape. Never mind, it was actually pretty bad.

After the escape, they went Knowhere to try and sell the orb. The ‘they’ being him, Peter, the green assassin named Gamora, a talking Raccoon named Rocket, a humanoid plant named Groot (and he made sure you knew his name), and the guy who tried to kill Gamora, Drax. It was a pretty fragile alliance between the misfits.  
After finding out the the Orb was an Infinity Stone, which sounded bad as soon as he heard it, they had a battle with Ronan, the guy who wanted the Orb in the first place. Then, to make matters worse, Peter and Gamora ended up getting captured by the Ravagers. After convincing Yondu that he needed to help us stop Ronan, and almost dying in the process, they went after Ronan with Peter's 12% of a plan. Which is just awful and he could have done better if he didn't have a mild concussion from the fight.

Of course, things went terribly wrong, which shouldn't have been surprising. Things were always stacked against them. Ronan's ship crashed onto Xandar, Groot was temporarily killed, a dance off had occurred between Peter and Ronan (God, he was never going to let Peter live that down) and the Star Idiot grabbed the Infinity Stone with his bare-goddamn-hands. Everyone had clutched onto Peter and each other to try to direct some of it's power off of Peter. It worked and they destroyed Ronan. He has had to kill before, so he didn't let the fact that they killed him affect him too much.

Afterwards, Nova Prime was so grateful that she had their criminal records expunged. He was pretty excited, no wait that's not a good enough word. He was ecstatic! He could finally have his somewhat forced Ravagerness (is that a word? Fuck it, it's a word.) not weigh him down from helping people again. He didn’t know if he’d ever be a “hero” again, but he didn’t care if he was. They would help people their own way and if they had to do things other people thought were wrong, then so be it.

While they were at Xandar though, Nova Prime told Peter and him that they were only half Terran and that was why they could stand the Stone's energy for so long. Their mothers were Terran, but not their fathers. Their father's were a different species. Dick had a different father than Peter, but they couldn't figure out what race each were. He wondered why his mother never told him, but he really didn't care that his biological father wasn’t John. He had been raised by John Grayson and he was his real dad, so Dick really didn't care.

That was all seven years ago. Now, he is living a great life with the Guardians. They’re his family and nothing’s going to change that. He couldn’t be happier, he thinks as Gamora walks in and kisses Peter on the cheek.

She turns towards Dick, a small smile gracing her lips. "Hello, Dick. How'd you sleep?"

The night plays in his head and he hides a smirk, "Pretty good." He takes a casual sip of his coffee as Gaina walks into the kitchen, wearing Dick's shirt and only Dick’s shirt.

"I hope you don't mind that I borrowed your shirt, mine was ruined." She doesn’t seem too embarrassed by the fact, smirking slyly.

"Not at all. You can keep it." He says politely.

"Thanks, Nightwing. I had fun last night." She smiles sassily.

"I did, too. A lot of fun." He wiggles his eyebrows, having fun in this game.

She giggles, "Call me whenever you're in town." before she winks and sashays out of the ship.  
Dick stares after her retreating form before turning back to his coffee. Gamora raises her eyebrows at the scene, "When did she get here?"

"Oh, after you guys went to bed at 10:00. Sidenote: seriously? Anyways, I went out because I couldn't sleep. Ended up at a bar, ended up talking to a Xandarian, ended up back here." He says simply, like it was nothing. It was something.

"Nice!" Peter says enthusiastically, raising his hand for a high five that was met while Gamora rolls her eyes.

"So, what's the agenda for today?" A voice floats through the door, revealing itself to belong to Rocket.

"I am Groot." 'I want to know as well.'

"We have to go to Xandar. I got a transmission this morning saying that it was important, but they didn't say why." Peter says confused.

"That is most strange." Drax says, being the last one to come in. "Why could they not say? Was there something wrong with their mouths?”

“No, Drax. Their mouths are fine. They did not specify what was important.” Dick explains.

“What do you think is so important that they did not discuss it?" Drax asks after he understands.

"Well, no use in discussing what it is when we literally can just go see what it is." Peter says, already on his way to the cockpit. Gamora rolls her eyes. 

While the rest of them got prepared for takeoff, Dick sat in the cockpit with Peter listening to his mom’s 'Awesome Mix Vol. 1'. Dick was a tad curious on what the super-big-important-mystery-that-you-must-come-right-now thing was, but pushed it out of his mind for now. Besides, they were going to Xandar, he would find out soon enough.


	2. Chapter Two

As soon as the Milano lands, Dick gets a bad feeling. It’s low in his stomach and no matter how many times he tries to shake it off, it won’t go away. It’s the same feeling he gets whenever a mission or a job was about to go wrong or something majorly disastrous was about to happen. It increases as they walk down the hallway to Nova Prime’s office.

Peter looks over at Dick and notices the weird expression on his face. He nudges him a little. "You okay?"

Dick wants to put a smile on his face and say that everything is fine, but he can't shake this feeling. "No. I have that feeling." He says quietly, not wanting to worry the others if it was nothing.

" _The_ feeling?" Peter asks warily, experiencing it many times over the year.

Dick nods and Peter tenses up, knowing that shit was probably about to go down. His hand flits towards his holster on his hip, hovering over it just in case. Dick keeps a hold on his own and also lets own hands hover towards his electric escrima sticks as well.

As they continue their way towards the huge double doors, the feeling grows so intense that he feels like running back to the ship and flying off to a place far, far away. He stands his ground though and takes a deep breath as they head on.

They reach the doors and two guards opened it in sync. He wonders sometimes if they practice doing that over and over, but now’s not the time for that. What’s more pressing is their faces. They’re stoic like usual, but now they also appear to be fighting to sneak a glance inside, like there is some magnificent treasure inside...or something highly dangerous.

Nova Prime is standing with her assistants by her side when they enter. Her assistants are in awe too, but there is also some intimidation and cautiousness lurking in their eyes. That's when he notices the group of people that are currently conversing with Nova Prime.

They aren't like most normal people you might see on Xandar. They have brightly colored outfits-No wait, they look like costumes. He can only see their backs, but some even have weapons at their sides. The backs look familiar and Dick’s mind goes blank because it can’t be, it’s not. They finally notice that Dick and the rest of the Guardians are in the doorway and turn around to face them.  

Dick's breath catches in his throat and his hands go slack as he stares into the faces of the people he hasn't seen in eleven years.

Young Justice and some of the Justice League.

Holy shit.

* * *

  _Wally's POV_

I feel my gaze wander towards the window as the Justice League drone on and on while talking with the Nova Prime chick. It’s so amazing out there, I never thought I would seen anything like it. There was so many different people and things that I’ve never seen. Some I don’t even know what they are, which is just magnificent on it it’s own. Some are familiar though. I can faintly see a really cool orange and blue ship in the distance. This planet is just fantastic.

A month ago, some miners found this glowing rock and when one picked it up, he started screaming and exploded. There wasn't any blood though, he just crumpled like a rock. It sounded gross. When the Justice League heard about this, they put it in a containment facility where it could be tested. None of the tests went well…

Then, we were contacted by the weird lady with white hair that said she was the head of a Nova Corp. She said that they already had one glowing rock (I think she called it an Infinity Stone?) and wanted the stone so it could be properly contained.

Of course, the Justice League didn't trust her, so they wanted to come to this Xandar and check them out. Well, all of the League couldn't come, so only a few leaguers and some of Young Justice. Batman, Flash, and Wonder Woman came from the Justice League. Artemis, me, Superboy, Miss Martian, and Kaldur came. Zatanna said that if the Justice League qualified Xandar as safe, then she would come with the small group of heroes who would transport it. The most weird thing though, and when I say weird I mean super awesome, is that we’re in a different dimension! The theory is right! It was hard getting here though, but we eventually did it.

Suddenly, the doors open and I am surprisingly the first one to notice. I turn from the window and stare at the group of people in the doorway.

There’s a raccoon with a gun strapped to its back and a what look like-holy shit is that a bomb on its belt?! It’s staring at the group of heroes boredly, like it has better things to do.

The raccoon is standing next to this tall plant thing because why not? It smiles at us and waves. I gave it a small wave back, it looks nice.

Next to them is this huge gray guy with red tattoos all over him. He’s only wearing pants, no shirt, which isn’t surprising considering how huge he is. He’s super intimidating, but doesn’t seem too hostile, mostly cautious of us.

My eyes land on the green hottie next. Jeez, she’s like supermodel hot! Artemis smacks my arm, like she knew what I was thinking. I rub it, shooting her a glare. Of course I'm not going to do anything, I'm with her. Besides she had an aura of deadly, like a leopard waiting to pounce, and I want to stay as far as I can from that.

The green hottie has a dirty blonde-haired guy somewhat gravitating in front of her like he was subconsciously protecting her, not that he needs to. The guy looks human, maybe he was from Earth? Anyways, he kept glancing worriedly over at the guy next to him.

The guy next to him looked human too. He has dark hair, but I couldn’t see most of his face from the mask covering his eyes. The guy seemed to be the most affected by our presence. He gaped at them for a moment before he suddenly straightened and put on a stoic mask. I felt like I knew him, but I couldn't put my finger on it…

The Nova chick coughs, turning our attention back to her. "Yes, this is the group I was telling you about." Oh, right. This must be the Guardians...something like that. I don't know. I wasn't paying attention. "They are like our 'Justice League'."

"It is a pleasure to meet you." Wonder Woman says, gracious as ever.

The green chick steps forward, "My name is Gamora." She stretches out her hand and Wonder Woman meets it. " I am Wonder Woman, but you may call me Diana."

"Diana." Gamora smiles lightly. "So, who are your companions?" She gestures to us.

"Well, the one in black is Batman. That's Flash. The younger ones are on a team they call Young Justice. The ones that are present are Superboy, Miss Martian, Artemis, Aqualad, and Kid Flash." She points at each hero as she names them.

The blonde haired guy stepped next to Gamora. "Well, if we're doing introductions, I'm Peter. Also go by as Star-Lord. That's Drax." He pointed at the big, grey dude who grunts at his name. He pointed at the raccoon and plant thing respectively, "That's Rocket and Groot." Rocket nods stiffly, but Groot speaks. "I am Groot."

"Maybe later Groot." Peter said absentmindedly, which just confuses me. "And that's.." Peter glanced at the dark haired guy, who shook his head slightly, before continuing. "Nightwing. We're a team known as the Guardians of the Galaxy."

I snort, "That's really original." before I could stop it from coming out. The team look at me like I was an gigantic idiot and Artemis smacks me upside the head. I tense, waiting for a blowout.

To my surprise, Peter just shrugs, a small smirk on his lips. "We didn't exactly come up with it. One of our enemies did and it just kind of stuck."

The dark haired guy-Nightwing speaks up, "Like you can say anything, though. How original is the Justice League?" His voice seems really familiar too...

I laugh, "I know, right?" I stride over and sling my arm over his shoulder, which was a little difficult because he’s like 6'3 compared to my 5'11. "I feel like we're going to be good friends."

Nightwing stares at my arm on his shoulder and I slowly take it off. Maybe he doesn’t like to be touched. I shrug, not interested enough to ask.

The Nova Chick speaks up again, "Now that you have been acquainted, let's get down to business. An Infinity Stone was found on Terra-" She’s cut off by the slight gasps next to me. I looked over to see them in shock and gazing at her in alarm.

"How many casualties were there?" Nightwing asked, straightening and putting a stoic face on. Man, he does that a lot.

"Only one, thank the stars. The Justice League contained it before anyone else could get hurt. Their containment, however, is not strong enough for the Stone and everyone is at a huge risk. We have asked the Justice League to relinquish it to us, but they are unsure on whether or not this is a safe environment for it." She looks irritated as she says the last part.

"Why are we here then?" Peter asks confused, looking like he wants to leave and do something else.

"There are a lot of parties out there that would do anything to get their hands on an Infinity Stone. You are here to protect the Justice League and if they choose to relinquish it to us, the Infinity Stone while we prepare for it."

They all nod, but seem unhappy being put on babysitter duty. I’m a bit unhappy with having to be watched like a little kid, but hey, what are ya going to do? Huh, looks like I get to hang out with my newfound friend some more. Awesome!

* * *

  _Nightwing's POV_

This sucks. It’s suck so hard. I'm stuck on Xandar with my old team and some of the Justice League. I’m going to have to be _so_ much more careful around them.

I’m not going to tell them who I am, I’ve already decided that. It's not like it'll do any good. I won't be able to go back with them and I'm not sure if I would want to either. It's been eleven years. My ID's probably already labeled as dead, I’m way different than I was before, and I doubt they’d accept me anyways with how I operate now. Who's to say they'll even want me back? It doesn’t matter really.

I am pretty surprised to see Batman here. He would never leave Gotham unprotected when I was there, so he's probably got another sidekick to look over it. It actually doesn't bother me much that he has another sidekick. I'm just glad that he's moved on.

Currently, I'm on the Milano packing some things. The Justice League and YJ had to go over more things, so we were allowed to go get our stuff before we have to relocate in the guest quarters. I run my hands through my hair and sigh one more time before finishing up my bag.

I sling my duffle bag over my shoulder and exit my room, heading towards the main deck. Everyone is already there, but I slow and listen to their murmuring. They don't notice me yet as per usual.

"Ugh, this is going to be hard for him." Peter sighs, making me freeze a bit. Great, they're talking about me.

"It’s probably difficult to see people, loved ones, you haven't in years.” Gamora replies, traces sympathy in her voice. “I feel terrible for him.”

"I’m pretty sure he doesn’t want them to know who he is, so we should call him Nightwing for the whole time they’re here. Sound good?"

They all murmur agreements and I speak from my position leaning against the doorway, "You know, it's rude to talk about someone when they’re not in the room."

They all jump at my voice, except Gamora who looks at me slyly, probably knowing I was there. The rest look everywhere before their eyes come to a halt on me.

"Don't do that!"

“Giving me a goddamn heart attack…”

“I did not know you were present in the room.”

“I am Groot!”

I smirk slightly, "It's fun to see you scream like six year olds, though."

Rocket growls, his fur still a bit bristled. "Do that again and you'll be the one screaming like a six year old."

I smirk again, before letting it drop as I remember why I scared them in the first place. "Yeah, well you deserved it."

They look at each other, slightly guilty. Peter steps forward. "We just know it's not going to be easy to be around them. We're just worried for you."

"It's okay. I'll be fine. Now, let's just go and get this over with so we can go blow up moons or something later.”

Rocket grins, "That’s what I’m talkin’ ‘bout. Alright, let's go do this thing!”

The rest of them roll their eyes, though not Drax, but that’s okay. They head out ahead of me. I stand there for a moment, trying to compose myself.

“Come on, kid! I’m not gonna wait all day for you because you got some problems." Rocket calls into the ship.

I walk out next to Peter, who puts a hand on my shoulder, knowing that I’m not okay as I put out. I smile  at him slightly before turning back towards Nova Corp Headquarters.

This is not going to be fun at all.

* * *

_Peter's POV_

I look over at Dick and sigh. I've known him for so long, he can't possibly believe that he can fool me. He's obviously not fine. I wouldn't be too if my family who I haven’t seen in years randomly showed up. I'd be worse than he is. I'd probably be drinking away my worries in some sleazy bar right now, but he's a good kid. I know that I'm not the best role model, but I like to think he turned out okay.

I don't think he'll tell them who he is willingly. It would just make things harder. They'd make him choose between them and us and I don't think he can take making that decision. I sigh. He's in some pretty deep shit. He's going to be messed up for a while after this.

I throw my crap on the floor of the room given to me and Gamora. She scoffs at my laziness and starts to put her stuff away. I sit on the bed and lay back, still thinking about Dick. We should have just told Nova Prime no and explain why we couldn't do this. This is going to be extremely hard for Dick. I sigh again.

"Do you think he’ll leave?” Gamora asks me suddenly, still putting her things away.

"What do you mean?" I lean against my elbows and stare at her.

“He has deep history with them. That black dressed one raised him somewhat. I know he still cares for them. He might want to go back with them.”

“I don't think he will. We have deep history with him too. Besides, that was forever ago and we’re his family now, you know?”

She turns towards me, “I suppose. He’s family and I’ve grown to have mother-like feelings towards him. I don’t think I could take him leaving.” She confesses, looking at me slightly concerned, not that she’d show me any more.

"It’s be okay, I promise. Now, who's my little green assassin?" I say in a baby voice, trying to get her spirits up.

It works because she rolls her eyes and punches my shoulder.

" _Owww_!"

"Aw, is the Star-Idiot hurt?" She mocks in the same tone.

"Uh, yeah! You punched me!" I say indignantly, even though I wanted this to happen. I rub my shoulder, starting to regret my life decisions.

She rolls her eyes again, "Put your stuff away, you slob."

I grumble and grouch, but do it. I don't want to set off an assassin, especially one that's my wife and can make me miserable using other ways. I shudder at the thought and continue to put away my clothes.

It turns out that at least one of us has to be with them at all times. If one of them wanted to go outside, a Guardian has to accompany them. Two of us have to stand guard in the area where they're staying for the time being during the night. If they are all together, the majority of us have to be with them. So, when dinner rolls around, we have to eat with them in the dining hall. This is going to be so awkward, at least for us.

The Guardians sit on one side and the League on the other. We all just sit there, not knowing what to say. Dick got put next to Wally and seems stoic, but I can tell he feels like getting as far away from them as possible.

"So, are you from Earth?" Wally asks, turning towards Nightwing, "You and Peter look like you're human."

"Yeah, I'm from Terra, but I'm only half Terran. So is Peter." Nightwing says smoothly.

"Are you guys brothers or something?" Wally says while poking his food and gulping it down when he decides it’s safe.

Nightwing and I look at each other and smile. "Not biologically, no, but I have known him for nine years."

"Nine years? Wow. So, how'd you end up roaming the galaxy?" He asks, almost done with his food already. Man, this kid can eat.

Nightwing's face hardens and I decide to answer, "We-uh-well, it's kinda a long story..." I start, rubbing the back of my neck nervously, a trait I picked up off of Dick.

Artemis punches Wally's arm and he responds with 'What'd you do that for?' type of look, one I have given Gamora many, _many_ times. She gestures to Nightwing, who was staring down at his plate blankly, probably thinking about his capture. Wally winces, which jars Dick out of his daze. He realizes that they’re staring at him and puts on his stoic mask. They look away, respecting his privacy and also feeling awkward.

The rest of dinner has a few idly chit-chat's happening, but nothing too personal. One thing I notice though is that Batman keeps staring at Dick. Oh, _no_. It doesn’t seem like he recognizes him, he’s just suspicious, but you never know with a bat, which is a term I learned from Dick. I think Dick knows because he’s avoided looking over there and mostly stayed quiet, only talking when needed. Wally is talking his ear off right now, so he doesn’t need to talk much anyways.

"So, you and Gamora are married?" Diana asks suddenly. Not really suddenly, Gamora and her have been talking for the past ten minutes, but I haven't been paying attention.

"Oh, yeah we are. For two years I believe." My nose scrunches up as I tried to remember that date. Shit, shit, shit.

Gamora rolls her eyes, thank god. "Yes, two years. It took Star-Idiot two years to ask me out and then three years to propose.

"I hear ya." Artemis says, her blonde hair swinging slightly. "We were together for six years before he proposed." She jabs her thumb at Wally before continuing. "We've been married for almost three."

"Any kids?" Dick asks, a mischievous glint in his eyes.

Wally starts choking on his water and Artemis rolls her eyes before slapping his back. "That's a no if you didn't get that."

"I got that." Nightwing smirks slightly before starting to eat again.

"What about you?" Wally asks after he recovers from almost choking.

"What about me?" Dick asks, raising his eyebrow.

"You married or in a relationship?"

"No." Unless you count one night stands or the occasional booty call, which I don't think they do, but I not gonna ask.

"Why not? Are you shy?" M’gann asks.

The Guardians, excluding Dick, start laughing. Dick is most definitely not shy. He was one of the most smooth talking, charming guys I knew, excluding myself. I’m happy to say I’ve taught him everything I know. Dick just rolls his eyes at us. Rocket answers their questioning looks,

"If Nightwing's shy, then I've never touched an explosive in my life."

Dinner ends shortly after that. All of the superheros from Terra went to their rooms to settle in.

Dick and I took first watch, letting the others sleep. I told Drax that I would come get him when I switched out, I knew Dick wouldn't be able to sleep for a while today.

We stayed in silence for a while, Dick told me that none of them were asleep yet. How he knew, I didn't want to know. A few hours later, when it was the dead of night, Dick said that it was okay to talk.

"Geez, any more silence and I might have died!" I whisper yell.

He roll his eyes at me, "God, you’re such a kid sometimes. A hyper one at that."

"Thanks...wait, hey!"

He smirks at my face. I stick my tongue out at him, but he just rolls his eyes and smiles.

"So, you think Gamora and Diana will be friends? I hope so. She doesn’t really have any other friends besides us."

“I don’t know. It’d be hard anyways with the different dimensions and all. Besides, it’s not like we have any other friends, so we really can’t talk.” He chuckles lightly.

"Yeah, you're right.” I yawn, "Okay, I'm going to bed. You good?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm used to not getting a lot of sleep."

I roll my eyes, knew it. "I know you are. Drax should be taking my place."

"Okay. Night, Peter."

"Night, Dick."

* * *

  _Miss Martian's POV_

I melt through my door, turning invisible. Someone is in the hallway and I want to see who they are without disturbing them or Conner, who is sleeping. I know it’s two of the Guardians from what Nova Prime told us about our security. I just want to know some more about them, they aren’t the most open bunch. I won’t read their minds because it’s considered rude, so I’ll just listen to them, which turn out to be Nightwing and Peter.

I start to stare at Nightwing intently. He's just so familiar that I swear we've met before. My mind just wants to connect with his and I don't understand it at all. It's driving me crazy.

Right now, Nightwing is rolling his eyes at something Peter did, but is still smiling. His smile...it reminds me of something, but I can’t put my finger on it. The smile seems different than whatever it’s reminds me of, but still similar. Nightwing starts laughing quietly. His laugh floors me. No. No, it can't be...It isn’t.

The hair. The smile. The laugh. The connection.

No, no, it's just a coincidence. _He_ disappeared eleven years ago to never be seen again. We mourned for the longest time before we came to terms that we would never see our friend, our little brother again. He...he couldn't be standing right in front of me. He _couldn't_.

I'm probably just imagining thing, still mourning for my little brother and trying to replace him with Nightwing. I'm just being crazy. Yeah, Nightwing is definitely not Robin. Robin is-was super bubbly and energetic. Nightwing seems way too serious to ever be Robin. He doesn't laugh as much or bounce off the walls. Yeah, can’t be Robin.

"Okay, I'm going to bed. You good?" Peter says as he yawns.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm used to not getting a lot of sleep."

"I know you are. Drax should be taking my place."

"Okay. Night, Peter."

"Night, Dick." he says as he walks off.

I gasp. We only found out Robin's secret identity after he was..taken. Richard 'Dick' Grayson. Is it really him? Oh my god, have we found him?

Nightwing whips around, he must have heard my gasp. His eyes zero in on the spot I'm at. "Miss Martian?" He asks tentatively.

I let myself show, my hands covering my mouth. My eyes begin to tear, "Dick?"

  
  
  



	3. Chapter Three

_Miss Martian's POV_

"Dick?"

Nightwing freezes at the name, his face a whirlpool of emotions. Shock, nostalgia, and, wait, fear? Why would he be afraid? If he's who I think he is, then he should be happy that he found us, not _scared_. 

"Dick?...Robin?" I prod softly, taking a step towards him.

He snaps out of his daze and stiffens. His face becomes a blank state, wiping away any emotions I had seen before. "I'm sorry, but why did you call me a dick? I haven’t done anything to you that I’m aware of." He says it so smoothly, so convincingly, that I feel myself almost believing him that he doesn’t know anything. Almost. I've waited too long for answers and I want them **now**.

"I knows it's you." I stare him in the eyes, showing him that I won't back down. I need to know.

He frowns and opens his mouth to speak, but instead whirls around. "Hey, Drax, could you cover me for a little bit? Miss Martian couldn't sleep and would like to go for a midnight stroll."

The gigantic grey guy appears suddenly, I hadn't noticed him. He stares at Nightwing for a moment, "Why would I cover you with something? That would be inconvenient if you are to accompany Miss Martian on her walk."

Nightwing face-palms, frustration clear on his face. I wonder if that was sarcasm or if Drax really took it seriously, but I'm guessing it's the latter by the look on Nightwing's face.

"I-no-ugh. I'll be back soon. Will you be alright being alone for a short amount of time?"

Drax grunts. I assume it's approval because Nightwing leads me down the hallway, away from the rooms. I walk beside him in silence as Nightwing leads me through so many twists or turns that I can't remember where the rooms were. Nightwing will probably lead me back.

He stops me at a point on a bridge. It's one of those ones that connect buildings and have windows all along it. I can see Xandar all lit up and the nightlife thriving brightly.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Nightwing murmurs, staring off into the distance. I agree it is very beautiful, but not what I came to talk about. Not at all. I stare at him expectantly. He sighs and runs a hand through his hair. "Yes, it’s me.” He eventually says quietly, absently staring at Xandar through the window.

I-It's true...It's true! Robin’s alive! We finally found him after _eleven_ _years_. I thought this day would never come, that I'd be doomed to never know of my teammates fate. He’s here though, standing right in front of me alive and well.

I yank Nightwing into a hug, silently crying into his chest. He leans back, his arms in the air. He's obviously uncomfortable, but I don't care. I haven't been able to do this in eleven years. Slowly, he wraps his arms around me, tentatively patting my back to try and calm me down.

I lean back, wiping away the tears. "I-I don't. I don't understand...What happened? Where have you been this whole time? Why haven't you come back?"

He pulls away from me, his face hard. "I got captured by outlaw mercenaries called Ravagers. I still don't know why they took me, I think they were paid to come to our dimension and take me here. Anyways, I was stuck with them for over two years. Peter found me after I turned sixteen and took me away from them. I've been with him ever since."

I frown, "That doesn't explain why you didn't come back."

"Dimension travel is hard, not many people can do it or have the technology."

"You still could have tried." I stress. "If you had explain your case to Nova Prime, maybe she could have helped you get home."

"Nova Prime wouldn’t have helped me." He states firmly. “She doesn’t run the galaxy anyways. Besides, there’s nothing there for me anymore.”

I gape at him, "'Nothing there for you'? What about _us_? Your family?" He just stares at me stoically. "What happened to you? You've changed. The boy I knew wasn't this." I gesture towards him, a deep scowl etched into my face..

"What did you expect, M'gann? That I would still be 5'2 and an optimistic little kid. I'm not a kid anymore, I'm a grown man. _I grew the hell up_. You couldn't have expected to me to run arms open at the first sight of you guys if you ever found me."

"I-I don't know. I didn't know _what_ to expect, we thought you were dead! It has been eleven years, so I guess I would expect for you to be at least happy to see us!"

"You aren’t my family anymore, M’gann. I have a new one and I don’t need you here ruining things.”

"Well, _soorryy_ ! I'm sorry that we found a rock that can explode people, I didn't mean for it to be such an _inconvenience_ to you." I cross my arms. "Just wait until I tell the team about this."

“Don’t you dare." He grits through his clenched teeth, looking upset.

"And why not?"

“My life is here. I have family here. Don’t you think you, my previous family, coming here complicates that? Don’t you think it makes it _hard_ for me having everyone that I loved and lived with here after _years_?”

I didn't think about him. Oh, no. "Nightwing, I'm...I just.."

"Just forget it."

"But-"

"Forget it!" He snaps. He turns and swiftly walks the way we came. I follow him, still wallowing in guilt. When the hallway with our rooms come into view, he pauses near Drax.

"I'm going out Drax. I'll have Groot cover for me."

Drax opens his mouth in question, but closes it at Nightwing's expression and nods. Nightwing then turns towards me. "Goodnight, Miss Martian." He says before he walks off, leaving me in the dust.

* * *

  _Dick's POV_

"Can I get three shots of spirytus?" I ask as I lean against the bar's counter, running a hand through my hair.

"Tough night, huh?"

"You have no idea." I mumble. The bartender sets the glasses on the counter and quickly pours it before sliding them towards me. "Thanks."

He grunts and goes back to wiping out glasses. I down one, trying to forget the conversation I had only ten minutes ago. I can't deal with this right now. I groan, my throat burning like hellfire. Why did they have to come here?

Oh, that’s right. There’s a ‘rock that explodes people’. Jesus.

M'gann reaction is exactly what I feared. I didn’t want them knowing because I knew they would react that way. I wasn’t even going to tell any of them who I was anyways, but I guess that’s out the window. Hopefully, they'll leave soon and I can get on with the rest of my life with the Guardians. That probably won’t happen though because M’gann will most likely tell them by morning.

I down the second shot.

"You look like you need to forget something for a while." A seductive feminine voice says as my throat _continues_ to burn.

I glance over and see an alluring woman my age with fiery red hair that clashes with her dark blue skin. She presses her body against mine as she runs her hand over my arm. "I could help with that." The woman purrs, a sultry smile playing on her lips.

I down the last shot and toss twenty units on the counter as she links her arm with mine, leading me away from everything.

* * *

 This time I wake up to a faceful of red hair and blue skin. I groan slightly and sit up, taking in my surroundings. Last night is a sorta fuzzy, but I remember the basis and of course what went down between me and...shit. I don’t know her name at all this time. I don’t think I ever learned it though. I slid out of bed, trying not to jostle it too much and wake her.

 I grab my clothes from the floor and slip them on, glancing over at the clock on instinct. I blanch. _Shit!_ It's almost ten, breakfast is about to start. I debate on leaving a note, but I decide that I don’t have time. I quickly give her a kiss on the lips to wake her up and I rush out the door as she blearily looks after me.

I race out into Xandar, thankful that the girl lives right by headquarters. I'm in headquarters in twenty minutes flat. I quickly walk (who am I kidding? I _run_ ) through the halls and to my room. I see Peter standing by my door, waiting for me. His face lights up when he sees me and he sighs in relief. I push past him and into my room.

"Where have you been?"

"Out." I say as I finally find suitable clothes. I look at the clock. _Fuck_. Not enough time to take a shower. I'll have to take one later.

"Out where? Drax said that you went for a walk with Miss Martian and that after you came back, you ran off." He leans forward and sniffs me, his nose cringing. "You smell like alcohol.” He sniffs me again and adds, “And perfume. What happened?"

I shut my dresser with a loud thwack. "What happened? _What happened?_   Miss Martian was listening to our conversation last night and found out who I was.”

"Oh, shit.”

"I know."

“ _Oh, shit_!”

“I _know_.”

"Jesus, Dick. What are you going to do?"

I quickly get changed, tossing my dirty clothes in a heap in the corner. "I don't know. I don't know what she’ll do." I sigh, running a hand through my hair.

Peter narrows his eyes and looks me over, "Where did you go afterwards?"

"Take a wild guess." I spray body spray all over me, hoping it covers the smell. I narrowly avoid his disappointed gaze, I can’t stand it right now. "How's this?"

"You do smell somewhat better. Come on, we're late. We'll talk about this later." He starts walking and after grabbing the majority of my weapon, I quickly follow. We arrive at the dining hall soon and I sit down the farthest from The Team/League. Gamora stares at me questioningly, but I shake my head, mouthing ‘Later.’

I see Miss Martian glance at me sadly and I try to ignore it. A small part of me feels bad though. It _has_ been eleven years and I guess that would be shocking. She didn’t have much time to process either.  

_'M'gann?' I call out in my mind._

_'R-Nightwing?' She asks, surprised._

_'Yeah, I wanted to apologize for the way I acted yesterday. It wasn't fair to you.'_

_'I actually wanted to apologize to you. I didn't think about how you felt and that was very inconsiderate of me. I know this must be hard for you. Would you accept my apology?' She asks shyly._

_'Only if you accept mine.'_

_'Alright. So, are you okay? You ran off after you brought me back.'_

_'I’m fine. Don’t worry.'_

_'Do you want to talk later? You know, catch up?'_

_'Sure, M’gann'_

Conner looks at her questioningly when she smiles, but she waves him off. He shrugs and goes back to eating. I realize that I do have food in front of me and I should probably eat if I don’t want to pass out. Before I can eat though, the wall explodes. So close. So close.

Everyone leaps up in battle positions as figures emerge from the dust. Peter and I pull out our guns simultaneously. We find ourselves back to back as the figures surround us. They’re all dressed in black, which is cliche-ish, but whatever.

Peter and I take them down as they come at us, keeping up the defense. Gamora and Drax go on offense, while Rocket and Groot go do their own thing. One of the people comes at Peter and I go on offense, pulling out my escrima sticks. I violently jab it in the stomach, electricity flowing. It goes down, but something about it doesn't seem right. It was too hard what I hit. I look over at Gamora and she looks confused as well. Drax looks like he’s having fun slamming them down, so I doubt he cares.

Shooting the people behind me with one of my guns, I quickly rip the fabric away to see metal. They’re robots! I press a finger to my ear, “Hey, if you didn’t know, they’re robots.” Another one comes at me and this time I don’t hesitate to shoot them in the face.

“No shit, moron!” Rocket yells.

“Hey, I said ‘if you didn’t know’.”

“Any ideas on how to stop them?” Peter yells, interrupting the impending argument.

“I got an idea. Groot’s covering me while I try it out. Keep takin’ these suckers out.” Drax roars in joy, now able to rip them apart.

Five minutes later, the robots suddenly all fall to the ground. Well, the ones that we hadn’t taken out.

“I built an EMP.” Rocket explains as he comes back towards us. “It won’t last forever, but it’ll give us enough time to destroy these asshats.”

“Good, but we need to keep one. Figure out who sent them.” Peter says, kicking one of their heads away from him.

“I’m pretty sure we all know why they’re here.” I say, gesturing towards the Team and Leaguers. They helped during the fight, but stayed mostly out of the way.

“Something doesn't feel right.” Gamora says.

“What do you mean?” Peter asks.

“She’s right.” I say. “Why would they just attack us? They didn’t try to grab the Leaguers, they didn’t try to do anything, but attack us. It isn’t really thought out if that’s all they were after. “ A thought springs up in my head and I start. “Oh no-” The words barely fall out of my mouth when the ceiling explodes, dust and pieces flying everywhere. A giant ship appears in the gaping hole, hovering over all of us.

The ship shoots out a stream of light which captures the three league members. It forms a bubble around the League and begins retrieving the bubble. They try to fight against their containment, but it doesn’t work. I hear the team yell out, but I can't concentrate because the light lands on the Guardians, myself included. Peter shoves me out of the way before it can solidate.

" _NO!_ "

It drags them away and I'm powerless to stop it. I scream, " _Peter!_ "

Peter only has time to say one thing before he disappears into the ship, " _Dick!_ "

The light falls onto the team and I, but before it can solidate, the Nova Air Force shows up, guns ablazing. The light dies around us and the ship takes off, Nova forces following.

“Fuck!” I curse, kicking the head of a robot causing it to fly across the room.

How could I be so stupid? I should have known from the beginning that this was going to happen. If I had been quicker, I could have done something! Now they’re both gone. _And it’s my fault._

"D-Dick? Did he call you Dick?"

This has to be the worst day of my life.


	4. Chapter Four

"D-Dick? Did he just call you Dick?"

This has to be the worst day of my life. I wake up with a hangover and a faceful of red hair and blue skin, which actually wasn’t bad, but I’m still going to add it ’cause I was then late to breakfast. We get attacked. The Guardians and the Leaguers get kidnapped, and then, if anything could get any worse, my identity has been exposed. Fan-fucking-tastic.

"As in Dick Grayson?" Wally continues, staring at me disbelievingly with wide eyes.

"That's not important right now." I growl towards Wally. He seems to be in shock, along with the rest of the team, excluding M'gann, but I don't give a flying fuck at the moment. We have bigger things to worry about.

I examine the robot I kicked the head off of. It seems really familiar to me, but I can't place it. I flip it over and rip the fabric off of the back. I jimmy the back off, throwing it with excessive force (I'm have every right in the galaxy to be mad at the moment) to the side. The workmanship inside is really messy, but still good. I find it's database chip and plug it into my wrist computer. I start to scan through it, looking for info. I can feel their stares combing over me, like they're trying to see the 5'2 troll in the 6'3 man.

M'gann, being the only one okay, comes over and crouches next to me. "What are you doing?"

"I'm looking though it's database to try and see who built it." I answer, not bothering to look up.

"You'll be able to find it?"

"Yeah, the person that built this isn’t as tech savvy as me, so it shouldn’t be too hard."

The team suddenly snaps out of it and Conner stomps over, his face turning red. "WHAT?! It's not important?!" I don't have a chance to say anything before he whirls towards M'gann. "And how are you so fine with this?!"

"I sorta found out yesterday?" M'gann says, wincing at the reaction to come and, boy, is it a reaction.

They all start yelling at her, saying that she had plenty of opportunities to tell them that I was alive. Though not really yelling, Kaldur even begins to scold her. The team completely ignore me during the whole thing. I think they don’t want to deal with me until they have to, at least right now. I’m not complaining, but they don't have the right to yell at her. I was the one who told her not to tell anyone.

M'gann curls into herself, her eyes starting to water. Are they idiots? Did they somehow get stupider over the years? She’s an empath for fucking crying out loud. I stand up.

"Enough!" My voice booms, ringing with authority. They immediately stop and stare dumbfound at me. Finally. "Have you forgotten she’s an empath? I was the one who told her not to anyways, so just quit your whining."

It’s silent for a few moments before my wrist computer dings. I look down, "That son of a bitch." I take off towards the direction of Nova Prime's office. The team dart after me, not wanting me out of their sight.

I push through her doors, ignoring the guards. She looks like she wasn't expecting me, considering the fact she uses my first name to greet me.

"Dick! What happened?"

I explain the events of this morning pertaining to the fight and how the League and the rest of the Guardians were captured. The team stares at me the entire time while I explain, which doesn’t do anything, but make me uncomfortable. I send a quick glare to get them to back off, which they cower from.

At the end of my explanation, Nova receives a transmission that they were not able to retrieve the Guardians or the Leaguers. She thanks him and turns towards me, "Thank the stars that at least you didn't get captured. Do you know who was behind the attack?"

"Sort of. Glarvis Minkle was the creator of the robots-"

"Then we know, don't we?" She frowns.

"No, this isn't his M.O. He's an old convict. He builds illegal weapons and sells them to the top bidder. He wouldn't be behind this.”

"Then, you will go find this Glarvis Minkle fellow and find out who _is_ behind this."

I nod, "Yes, ma'am." I turn to leave when suddenly Artemis steps forward.

"What about us?" Artemis asks, her hands on her hips.

"Ah, yes. What to do with you? I don't think you should stay here, they already know that they weren't able to capture you. I believe it would be best if you went with Mr. Grayson on his mission."

I whirl around, "I don't think that's necessary. Wouldn't they be safer here, under Nova's watch?" I try to subtly get her to _keep them here_ , but she shakes her head.  

"It would just endanger them to be here. They will go with you."

I knew I couldn't argue with her and it's not her fault I'm stuck with the Team. It's whoever took the Guardians...and the League. "Yes, ma'am."

I turn and leave, the team following me, again. I stop around the Team’s hallway and turn towards them, "You will meet me at the ship docks in ten minutes. Gather your things and meet me there."

Wally grabs my arm as I leave to go gather my own. “We need to talk.”

I tense up, but I try to stay calm. “I told you what to do.”

“I’m not doing anything until we talk.” Wally grounges out, gripping my arm tighter.

“Get your hand off of me.” I warn, my eyes narrowing. “There’s nothing to talk about.”

“Nothing to talk about? How about where you've been the past eleven years? Why you're with the Guardians of the Galaxy? Why you don't call yourself Robin anymore? Why you never came back?” He shoves me into the wall at his last sentence, getting up close. In a flash, it’s the other way around and my knife is being held at his throat.

“Don’t touch me.” I growl, one hand on the knife, the other gripping his the back of his head. Wally looks shocked and his eyes widen. He tries to move and I press harder, a trickle of blood appearing. The others have gone silent. “We don't have time for this. Go get your shit.” I shove Wally away and head to the Milano, leaving them dazed behind me.

* * *

 I lean against the Milano, pissed while I wait for them to arrive. I have to go deal with Glarvis while dealing with people I hadn't seen in years. I know Glarvis from my Ravager days, stole quite a few items from him. I actually stayed once, in the shadows, to see his face. It was priceless.

I hope that Peter and the rest of the Guardians are okay. If anything happens to them, I wouldn't be able to live with myself. They’re my family and I would die for them. I’ve known them for seven years, Peter nine. They have to be okay, they need to be okay.

I snap out of my thoughts when I hear footsteps. The team walked towards me in a pack, probably not trusting from earlier. I snort at the sight and stand straight. I warned Wally and I don’t like people touching me. Plus, I’m in a pretty pissed off mood, so they just suck it up. Before they reach me, I open the bay doors and walk in. I can hear their footsteps, so I know they’re following.

"Welcome to the Milano. Sit wherever and don’t touch anything."

I sit in the cockpit, thinking that less than a day ago I was here with Peter. I sigh, now I’m going to save him, the Guardians, _and_ the Leaguers. It feels wrong to fly without the Guardians, but I push the feeling aside and continue on. We are just out of Xandar's atmosphere when M'gann comes and sits in the co-pilots seat. She doesn’t talk for a while.

“What was that earlier?”

“I didn’t have time for that and I knew he wouldn’t stop, so I did what I had to.”

“Excessive though.” She says, glancing at me a little worriedly.

“Effective is what it is.” I counter. “I warned him, so it’s his own damn fault.”

She opens her mouth to say something, but decides against it and instead says, “You realize that you'll have to talk to the rest of them eventually.”

I sigh. “I guess.” I set the ship on autopilot to the coordinates needed and stand up. "Here goes nothing."

"You'll be fine." She says, trying to comfort me. It doesn't work. I walk out onto the main deck to see the rest of the Team staring at everything around them with wide eyes. A few of them are up, looking at things. Wally picks up a metal object, turning it over.

"I wonder what this is?" He murmurs.

I spring forward and snatch it out of his hand as gently as I can. "Don't touch that."

"Why not?" He says, eyes narrowed. Geez, talk about aggressive. Well, I guess it's not unsanctioned, me attacking him earlier and all.

"It's a bomb." I say casually, tossing it into a box. Rocket really needs to pick up after himself and stop taking apart the ship. I don't know how many times Peter and I have told him that.

"What?!" He yells, backing up.

"Yeah, that's why I said, don't touch anything. Ring a bell?" I shoot him a glare.

His face flushes and he looks away, but he doesn’t say anything. Awkward silence permeates the air and I struggle to find what to say.

“Uh, do you have any questions?” I ask, rubbing the back of my neck.

"What happened that day?" Kaldur asks.

"I got captured by a group called Ravagers. They transported me back to their dimension, this dimension."

"Ravagers?" Kaldur tests out.

"That's right. I was with them until Peter found me like two years after they took me. I've been with him ever since."

"Why did they take you?" Artemis asks.

"I don't know. I'm pretty sure they were paid to, but I'm not sure by who." Eleven years and I still don't know. “Anything else?”

“What have you been doing all these years?” M’gann asks.

“Traveling the galaxy, doing jobs with Peter. After the Ronan incident, became a founding member of the Guardians of the Galaxy. Been together with the rest of them ever since.”  

“The Ronan Incident?”

“Ronan the Accuser. He was a radical member of the Kree race. He got upset by the peace treaty between the Kree Empire and Xandar, so he tried to destroy Xandar with an Infinity Stone. We stopped him and became the Guardians of the Galaxy in the process.”

“Do you think this Ronan could be behind this?” Kaldur asks.

I snort, “Not likely.”

“Why not? You said he tried to use a different Stone. He could easily be behind this.”

“It’d be kinda hard for him since he’s dead.”

It’s silence after that.

“Oh.” M’gann says.

“Yeah, so not him.” I think it might be Thanos, but I’m praying to every deity that I can think of that it’s not. “Do you guys want to know anything else?”

“I-we...there’s so much we wanna know about what’s happened to you over the years. What you’ve been doing and if you’re okay. It has been eleven years.”

“Yeah, well, I’m great.” At least I was before they all showed up. “Anyways-” I’m cut off by the alarm blaring.

“ _Warning. Warning. Incoming ship._ ” The computer drones in monotone voice.  

I race to the cockpit, sliding in the ship. I quickly accesses the camera to see what they’re dealing with. Hopefully it's just a random ship. Random ship, random ship, come on random ship!

Fuck. It’s not a random ship. It’s one I know all too well.

An incoming call alert pops up on the holo-screen and I groan loudly, throwing my head back. I reluctantly push accept and Yondu appears.

“What do you want, Yondu?” I ask.  

“What? I can't check up on you brats once in a while? See how you doin'."

I roll my eyes, "You only come to us when you want something from us, so what do you really want?"

"I'd watch your tongue, boy. My boys wanted to eat you after what you did to them when you first arrived. Didn't let them eat Quill, so they still had no Terran flesh. You're lucky you were so great at pulling jobs or I’da let them. "

"You know, normal people don't think about eating other people."

"When did I say we was normal? Now look, where is Mr. Quill? I need to talk to both of y'all."

I stiffen, "Peter can’t talk right now, so you'll have to leave a message at the beep. _Beep._ "

Yondu glares at me, but continues. "Some of my guys were sent out on a job we was hired for. Anonymous person paying big units, you know, the usual. My guys went to meet up with the hirer and only one came back alive. He kept babbling on and on about some glowing rock and how they wanted to know things about you and your ragtag team. He went kaputz soon afta that."

An anonymous person is pretty usual, but they don't usually kill their employees. Something feels like the Guardians and League's capture and this anonymous employer are definitely connected. Especially when you add in how they wanted to know things about us and an Infinity Stone.

"I'm sorry that some of your guys died," I’m completely genuine, some of them were okay. "But I don't know exactly what you want me to do."

"I want _you_ to find out who did this, so I can kick their asses all the way across the galaxy. I would find out, but we was hired for another job."

"I don't know..." I don't know if I want to do this or if I'll have time.

"Look, you do this and I'll..." He makes a frustrated face. "I'll owe you a favor. Just one! You ain’t smuggling any more outta me. Plus, you don't agree and I'll blow you sky high, boy."

I smirk. Yondu hates owing people. "Got yourself a deal, you over-grown smurf."

He growls, "I'd watch it if I were you. My boys still want Terran flesh for dinner.

I roll my eyes again. "Yeah, uh-huh, I'll remember that. Bye, bye! " I quickly close the connection and as soon as he does, the Ravager ship turns around and leaves. I stand up and turn around to see the whole team crowding the doorway. They look horrified.

 "They wanted to eat you?" Artemis says, her nose scrunching.

I chuckle, "Yeah, Yondu been holding that over our heads for forever. They never really tried. Well one bit me, but that was my fault."

"Our?"

"Oh, uh, Peter and I. They wanted to eat Peter too after they abducted him. Yondu thinks it such a great thing, not eating us. Asshole. Were you guys here for the whole call?”

“Yeah. What was ‘pulling jobs’ about?” Wally asks.

Oh, no. This isn’t going to go over well. How should I say it? ‘After I was taken, I became a Ravager and a criminal. I stole things from people for money.’ That’s too blunt. I should ease them into it.

“After I was taken, I became a Ravager. Well, more forced at first, but still.” Good. Good. That’s a good start. “I had to steal things from people once in a while. And by once in a while, I mean sometimes. And by sometimes, I mean everyday.”

“You-you became a criminal? A THIEF?!”

“Yes. I’m actually quite good at it. ” I think Catwoman would be proud actually.

“Who the fuck cares if you’re good at it?! You _stole_ from people! This-this isn’t the Dick I knew. You would _never_ steal from anyone for any reason. You used to fight against those people, you were the Boy Wonder. You had a moral code, a strict belief in justice. What the hell happened to you?!”

“I grew up, Wally! I’m not that optimistic little kid anymore! Yes, I became a criminal. Yes, I became a thief. What else could I have done? I was in a different dimension, you all were gone, so I did what I had to to survive. The world isn’t black and white, there are grey zones and stealing is one of them. Seriously, I don’t know how you guys still haven’t learned that. Not all criminals are greedy, violent people. Some people have to do it. You need to learn the fucking difference.”

“Which one are you, huh? I can’t even see anymore.” Wally says angrily.

“I don’t have to explain anything to you, but I’m going to so you’ll stop bothering me about it. In the beginning, it was just to survive. After a while, I got used to it and at some point, I found out that I liked it. Plus, the money was good, _but_ now, I use my Ravager skills to help the world more.

“I’m not going to apologize though to anyone for what I’ve done. It’s my life and it’s what I do and I’m _glad_ because if I hadn’t became a thief, I would never have been able to save Xandar and I wouldn’t be with my family today.”

They still look shocked and angry, but I don’t give a shit about what they think of me. They don’t understand. “I don’t care if you don’t understand, but we still have to work together, so you’re going to have to deal.” The computer beeps and I go to it. After I find out why it beeped, I smile.

“Get in your seats. We’re approaching Knowhere.”


	5. Chapter Five

"Hundreds of years ago, the Tivan Group set up mining operations in the decapitated head of the Celestial to harvest the valuable bone, brain tissue, and spinal fluid from it. The absence of law enforcement turned Knowhere into a safe haven for outlaws and our dear friend Mr. Minkle. Be careful while we’re here."

The team seems shocked to be inside the head of the Celestial. Dick was surprised, but they seem way too shocked. Then again, Dick  more used to things by the time he saw this. At least they’re too distracted to be mad at him right now.

"It's too light out to go after Minkle right now, we'll have to wait until dark. So, for now why don't we-" Dick cuts himself off when Gaina appears, her hips swaying towards him. Oh, _yes_.

* * *

  _Wally's POV_

This is just _wow._ They’re inside the head of a giant whatever. He wonders what was strong enough to kill this thing, it must have been enormous! There are a lot of people here, criminals he reminds himself, but they seem to be somewhat avoiding them. Wally thinks they're avoiding Dick, he probably has a lot of cred as an ex-Ravager and a Guardian.

Jesus. He never thought he would think those words. Dick shouldn’t have to have cred or be in the criminal business at all! It’s wrong and Wally doesn’t understand how Dick doesn’t see that. This is way different than Wally thought Dick was going to turn out.

Dick starts speaking again, "It's too light out to go after Minkle right now, we'll have to wait until dark. So, for now why don't we-" He cuts himself off and stares at something ahead of us. I turn to see a chick with pink skin and blonde hair strutting towards us. I glance back at Dick to see him smirking.

Is he a dog? On our world, he was so awkward with girls.

She walks straight up to him and Dick wraps his arms around her midsection, one hand gripping her plump ass. He passionately kisses her and the chick purrs, "I didn't know you were coming back so early. Just couldn't stay away could you?"

Dick grins, "How could I stay away from someone as sexy as you?"

"How about you take this sexy girl back to your ship and then we can have some fun?" She wiggles her eyebrows lightly. Ah, she must be a booty call. A hot one at that.

"Oh, I wish, but I can't right now." The chick pouts at this. "Hey, don't pout baby. I promise that I'll make it up to you."

"How are you going to do that?" She says seductively.

"Well, I'll..." Dick starts whispering in her ear after that, so I can't hear what he’s saying. I lean over towards Conner, my eyes still on Dick and the hot pink chick.

"What is he saying?"

I look at Conner to see him eyes wide and his face red in embarrassment. "You don't want to know."

Damn, how did he get from not flirting at all to this...geez I don't even know how to describe it. He's like the king of flirting and dirtiness. I look at the team and they all have the same expressions on their faces. Seeing him like this first hand instead of the innocent thinking thirteen year old we knew, it's just...wow.

Dick finally pulls away from her ear and she's staring at him seductively. "I'm going to hold that to you, Nightwing." She pulls him into a kiss and then sashays away. Dick stares after her for a couple moments and then turns back to us.

"Anyways, as I was saying, it's too light out to go after Minkle right now, we'll have to wait until dark. So, for now why don't we go get a drink. There's this great place that's just up the street. We could go there-"

"What was that?!" Artemis yells, gesturing wildly at him and then the direction the chick went.

"Uh, what was what?" He stares at her confused for a second until it dawns on him, "Oh, I met her a few days ago when I was here with Peter. She's from Xandar. Sexy, isn't she? I thought so."

 We stare at him again. Jesus. “What’s her name?” M’gann asks.

"Huh, oh, yeah, her name’s Gaina."

"Are you two dating?"

"What? No, _no_ , definitely not dating."

"Have you dated anyone?" Artemis asks.

“Not really. Mostly physical relationships, if you know what I mean. Hookups are one of my skills.”

“Oh my god, is that where you went the other night?” M’gann asks.

“What other night?” Wally asks M’gann, looking between the two.

“The night I found out who he was. We talked for a little bit and I said something that got him upset, so he took off. Did you go meet up with Gaina?” She directs the last part toward Dick.

“No, Gaina lives here.”

“Oh.”

“I _did_ go to the bar for some shots and I met this saucy redhead, didn’t catch her name. She was so smokin’. She was why I was late to breakfast.”

We’re all silent. _God damn._ How the hell did he get so playboy-ish?

“We should get headed to that bar I told you about. It’s not safe to stay out in the open.” He walks off and we all look at each other incredulously before following him.

* * *

  _Peter's POV_

Peter’s first thought when he wakes up is _ooooooowwwwwwwwwww_. Ugh, his head. Why does his head hurt so much? He tries to open his eyes, but they feel super heavy. He groans. Geez, what happened?

"Peter?"

That's Gamora. She kinda sounds angry, frustrated, and worried at the same time. Oh, geez. He must have gone drinking with Dick and Rocket again. Gamora is going to be pisssssseeeddd! She's going to withhold sex again! That was the longest month of his life! Oh, god. He has to get up and apologize, quickly. You do not want an assassin to be angry when you did something wrong.

He forces his eyes open with a moan. A green blob is right in front of his face. It shifts slightly and bends down towards him. "Peter? Wake up."

Oh, the green blob must be Gamora. Hey, in his defense, he thinks he may be hungover. He blinks a couple times, trying to clear everything up. "'Mora?" He slurs. The green blob clears up to reveal his wife. She looks tired and dirty, but she smiles. "Finally, you're awake."

He groans and tries to sit up, "Ugh, what happened?"

"Stinkin' cowards decided to kidnap us and then don't show their ugly faces!" Rocket shouts at the bars, while pacing. Oh, it all comes back to him. The fight, the bubble things, yelling for...

"Where's Dick?" Gamora looks at him with a mixture of happiness and sadness. Which doesn't make much sense, but that's how she looks. Wait. "He wasn't captured, was he?"

She shakes her head, "No, he wasn't."

He smiles, "Oh, thank god. He'll figure out how to rescue us. He's done it before. A lot." Wait, wait. Sadness? Why would she be sad? Wait... "Where's the other heroes?"

"The Justice League was taken by guards for interrogation." Drax says from the corner, watching Rocket pace. He notices that his fur is sticking up, but he doesn’t really care at the moment.

Okay, so the JL is here, so why's Gamora sad? Okay, Justice League is here, they’re here, so what's wrong? Is it because he's by himself to rescue them? He's rescued them by himself before and Gamora trusts his skills, so it's not that. The sadness seems similar. It was like the sadness when she was worried that the Justice League and Juniors would find out Dick's real identity. Wait, Drax said the Justice League was taken, not Young Justice.

"Dick is with Young Justice, isn't he?"

Silence. Rocket stops pacing.

"He is, isn't he?"

"I am Groot."

He takes that as a yes. Dick must be going crazy right now, being alone with people he had gotten over so long ago. He knows that if he had seen his grandpa again that he would be a mess. It's worse that they don't know that he's their old teammate and he does. It would be even worse if they knew he was Dick.

His head starts to hurt as he remember something. He gets up quickly and feels nauseous, but he ignores it. More's coming back to him. After the bubble was carried to the ship, a gas filled the air and they all fell to the ground. Something happened before that though. His eyes widen. Oh, no. Oh, no. Oh, no. Oh, no! NO! He didn't, did he? He didn't yell his...Oh, god. He did! Young Justice knows! This just makes everything so much harder for Dick. They're going to want him to come back. They're going to reveal it to the Justice League members and he knows Batman is not going to leave Dick alone without a fight. Everything is ruined, because of _him_.

"Young Justice knows! They know. ‘Cause of me! Man, am I stupid?"

“You are stupid.” Drax agrees with a nod.

Peter starts towards the bars, hoping Dick's okay. "We need out of here, now. There has to be some way..." His hand is a centimeter from touching the bars when Gamora jerks him back.

"Peter! The bars are electrified." Gamora stares at Peter like the idiot he is.

"How do you kno-" He cuts himself off when he sees Rocket pouting. His fur… "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! You-you!" He has to sit down because of how hard he’s laughing. His chest hurts so much, but fucking Rocket. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Rocket snarls, "Oh, just shut up, Star-Idiot. Did you even have a plan when you went for the bars?"

He stops laughing, "Well, I was coming up with one."

"How much of one?" Gamora inquires.

"Maybe twelve percent?"

* * *

 

**Artemis POV**

Dick strides through the doors of the bar and smiles when he sees someone's face behind the counter, "Hey, Gus!"

The bartender looks up at his voice and smiles. He has yellow skin, three eyes, and really boring, brown hair. "Hey, Nightwing! Back already? Oh, how'd it go with that Xandarian girl?"

He smirks, "It went like it always does."

"Atttaboy, nice job!" Gus highfives him. "Also, who are these people?" He gestures to us, his gaze curious and a little suspicious. Dick did say that this….uh, planet? It's a head, so she doesn't think it's a planet. She'll just go with _community_ was filled with criminals. Dick turns his head slightly to spot them standing there awkwardly near the doorway of the bar. He waves Gus off nonchalantly.

"Oh, these are old friends of mine coming for a visit. Couldn't let them leave without visiting the best bar in the galaxy."

Gus smiles and shakes his head, "Always a charmer. Oh, you-know-who came around looking for you."

"I'll have to find AJ later. Oh, could we get six beers?"

"Sure thing." Gus reaches under the counter to get the glasses and sets them on the counter, "Hey, where are Peter and the rest of the gang?"

Artemis expects Dick to cringe or do something to give away something was wrong, but his face doesn’t change. He just leans against the counter.

"They're stuck on Xandar. They have to babysit some visiting royalty. You know how it is, watching out for assassinations and the like. Luckily, Peter was able to get me out of it, thank god. Anyways, how's things with Danny?" He lies so smoothly that it shocks us a bit.

Gus rolls his eyes as he pours the drinks, "You know Daniel hates being called that."

"I know, that's why I do it, but you're changing the subject."

Gus sighs, "I don't know. Shana came to the bar the other day."

"Ah, geez. How'd that go?"

"She said that she was upset with how things ended with us all those years ago and wanted to go out for coffee."

"You didn't go, did you?"

Gus winces, "Well..."

"Oh, god. You did. What happened?"

"I told her I was in a committed relationship with Daniel and that we were happy. She said that she respected that and was glad that I was happy. It was just coffee with old friends. Nothing happened."

"Good."

"Well, there was this one weird moment."

"What?" He asks hesitantly.

"We kinda...kissed."

"What are you doing?! Don't you remember what happened before?"

"I know. I know! I don't know what happened. We were just saying goodbye one moment and the next we were making out!"

"Well, what about Daniel? Does he know?"

"Yeah, he knows. I told him as soon as it happened. He was forgiving and all that jazz, but he's been distant. I don't think it's going to work out."

Dick sighs, "We've known each other for years. Hell, I was the one that set you up with Daniel. What you have is something other people dream of...Just, don't give up, alright?"

Gus nods, "I won't. Oh, sorry guys, here are your drinks." He pushes them forward. "On the house."

"You don't have to do that, Gus."

"Nah, it's fine. We've been going on and on about my love life while they've been standing there awkwardly. You know you have.” Gus directs towards them. “So, as an apology, free beers."

"Thanks." Artemis says, a little surprised.

Gus nods and goes to pour drinks for other customers. Dick casually picks his up and starts drinking it. "If you're worried you might get drunk, don't worry. These are the least strongest thing here."

Conner picks his up and curiously asks, "What's the strongest?"

"Asgardian mead. Ah, geez. I had a glass of that once and was hungover for days!"

"It can't be that bad." Wally says, suddenly sitting next to Dick, sipping his drink.

"Yeah." Conner agrees.

Dick smirks and if we could see his eyes, Artemis bets they're full of mischief. "Hey, Gus!" He throws over his shoulder.

"Yeah?" His voice comes from under the counter, I presume to get glasses.

"Can I get two shots of Asgardian mead?"

There's a loud boom as Gus hits his head against the counter. He stands up cursing and comes over. "You sure, Nightwing? The last time you had that you slept with an Aaskvarian."

Dick winced, "She was really nice, but you know Aaskvarians. She bit my shoulder twice and left these pin marks that didn't go away for months. Anyways, these two," He jerks his thumb towards Conner and Wally, "Don't think it'll be that strong."

Gus chuckles and pours the drinks, "It'll be your downfall, boys."

Wally eyes his shot. "You know my metabolism will probably burn through it really fast."

Dick shrugs, a smirk still on his face. They both down it fast, confident in their actions. The confidence went fast. They blanch and groan with Wally swaying slightly.

"It's not burning fast enough." Wally moans, clutching the counter.

They're a bunch of idiots. Artemis sees Megan glance at her and nod in union. Dick starts chuckling. "Told you." He leans back and takes a sip of his beer.

She plops down beside him, "So, who's AJ?"

"An ex. Went out for a while. Didn't work out. We're still friends."

She looks around at all of the aliens, well aliens to her, in the bar and takes a sip, "How do you remain friends with your exes?"

"Maybe that's my superpower." He decides to switch the conversation. "So, I assume that Nova gave you all temporary translators in your ears considering that you understood Gus?"*

"Yeah. So everyone is speaking something different right now, but we hear our native language?"

"Yeah. Well, you can pick what language you want to hear in. English isn't my native, but that's what I have it set to. Mine's permanent, see?" He pulls down his jacket and shows her a metal thing implanted at the base of his neck.

Before now, he's always worn his leather jacket and pants. At one point, he mentioned it was his Ravager garb and it protects him from the effects of space. He's never taken it off and all they’ve seen of his skin is his hands and part of his face that his mask hasn't covered. There's a jagged scar next to his implant and she gets a sinking feeling that there are more covering his body.

He pulls his jacket back up and Artemis clears her throat, "That's cool. So, when did you get it?"

"Yondu had it implanted a couple weeks after I became a Ravager. Hurt like a bitch."

She raises an eyebrow at him. He gives her an incredulous look, "What? I'm not allowed to swear?"

"No, you are. It's just going to take a while to get used to you all grown up. I'll get used to it though eventually." He shifts uncomfortably in his seat. A realization washes over her. "You're not coming back, are you?"

He stands up, "Yeah, I'll show you the bathroom. It's outback." What? He drags her through the back door and to the street. Woah, there are more people out here than there was before. It is just getting dark, so she guesses this is when everything starts happening.

He pulls her to the side of the building. She gives him a glare and gestures for him to talk.

He sighs, "Look, it's complicated. I've been with Peter since I was sixteen. He got me away from Yondu, he finished raising me. He's my brother, he's family. We've had each others back for nine years. I've known the others for seven. We're a team, a family. Gamora is like my mom or my over-protective sister. Rocket, Drax, and Groot are my uncles. They're my family."

"We're your family, too." She argues. "You're our little brother."

"Were. You _were_ my family. I _was_ your little brother. It all went down the drain eleven years ago when I was taken. I have a different life now."

"Do you know how awful it was when you were taken? We looked for you for years. Years! Eventually, we had to stop, but Batman still looks for you! Do you know what it's like to try to cling on to the hope that you would see even a glimpse of the person you want the most?"

"Of course I know! Do you not think how hard it was for me? All I wanted was to go back to Terra, to see you guys. I couldn't escape Yondu, especially when I learned it was dangerous to dimension travel and Yondu wasn't going to chance it again. I thought that you guys would find me. The Justice League, they always get the bad guy and bring justice. I had so much hope that first year, but as more forced thefts and more time rolled on, I gave up. I knew that I would never get to see you guys again. I decided that I didn’t care anymore after being with Peter for a while.

"He became my family. I had forgotten what it was like to have a brother again. We both had been alone, him even longer than me. We helped each other heal. During the Infinity Stone thing, we met Gamora, Rocket, Groot, and Drax. They joined our family. I got to help people more. I stopped thinking about you guys less and less. I didn't need to, you were my past. They're my present and future. I had nothing left on Terra, I still don't, but it's hard to see you guys. You were my third family and I lost you, just like the other ones. Seeing you again has brought up so many memories. I can't choose between you guys and my family and I’m not going to.

“My life is here and this is my dimension now. I know that I’m staying, but with you guys here and especially knowing, it just makes things...hard." She cuts him off with a hug. He stiffens and his arms hover above her.

"Hug me back, you jerk." She mumbles into his chest. He slowly wraps his arms around her. After a moment, she decides to break the tension, "Damn, you're ripped." This gets a huge laugh out of him, a real laugh, which is nice to hear since she hasn't heard a real once since they got here.

She leans back, "In all seriousness though, I'm sorry that I didn't think about how you felt. I was just thinking of me and that was selfish. I'm sorry. It's not easy finding someone you thought was gone, but I bet you get that better than anyone. I just..I'm sorry. I won't bring it up again."

He gives her a small smile, "Thanks, Arty."

Artemis punches his shoulder, "Don't call me that!" He groans and rubs his shoulder.

"Okay! Sorry...Arty." He smirks.

She raises her fist to punch him again when Megan comes around the corner. She gives a sigh of relief when she sees us, "You guys have been gone for a while. Kaldur sent me to check up on you."

"Oh, sorry. We were just talking." She explains, putting her fist down. Dick smirks and she shoots him a glare.

"Is it time to go yet? 'Cause Conner almost hit a guy that was flirting with me and I don't want to partake in a bar fight."

Dick laughs, "I've been in a couple of those. Mostly because of a drunk Peter, but hey, at least I can cross it off my bucket list." He looks around. It's a lot darker and she sees more lights pop up like it does in a city. Artemis also see a lot of people that she can definitely put on her shady list. Dick looks down at Megan and her-which is when she realizes that he's taller than any of them-and says, “Alright, let’s go do this.”

  


 


	6. Chapter Six

“Why does it have to be me?” Wally grumbles one more time, tugging at his black apparel. Artemis bites her lip and looks away. She doesn’t know whether she’s fighting to laugh or if she’s turned on.

“I told you, he’s into redheads.” Dick rolls his eyes and adjusts Wally’s studded strap over his sheath shirt. 

“Why not Megan?” Wally exclaims. Conner glares at him, but Dick quickly puts Conner's mind at ease.

“He’s not into women, which is why it’s gotta be you. Look, he has a prostitute come every Thursday, which happens to be today. So, you’re gonna go in and distract him while I hack into his servers. He’ll otherwise notice if you weren’t there.”

“I thought we wanted to know who hired him? Shouldn’t we just ask him?” Kaldur asks. Wally nods furiously in agreement.

“Look, this is the easiest way. Don’t question it.”

“I don’t even know what to do!” Wally blurts, looking wildly uncomfortable. He pulls at the leather collar on his neck.

Dick rolls his eyes again. “Look, all you gotta do is knock on the door. He’ll answer, question why you’re not his usual. You’re going to say that he’s out and you volunteered to be filled in. Say exactly that, he’ll probably laugh. Also, go with the awkwardness angle. He’s into the inexperienced. Don’t ask how I know.”

“Oh god. What the fuck did I get myself into?”

“It’s time, so let’s get this ball rolling.”

* * *

It all goes like Dick said it would. He frowns when he sees Minkle’s bloodshot eyes staring at Wally like he’s a piece of meat. He didn’t want to have Wally do this, but Minkle has to be distracted for the plan to work. He would have done it himself, but Minkle knows his face. Dick creeps into the warehouse window, having the rest of the team wait outside.

“Yeah..he, uh, he’s sick. So, I volunteered to be filled in his place.”

Minkle laughs a raspy laugh that sets Dick’s teeth on edge. He hates that fucking laugh. “Too bad. I like Jukla. Me and him get along well.”

“That’s nice.” Wally says, looking extremely uncomfortable. Dick scans through the information as fast as he possibly can, not finding anything from Minkle's computer. He’s starting to feel desperate and the air starts to feel heavy around him.

“You new? You seem a bit edgy.”

“Y-yeah.”

“Don’t worry. Everything's gonna be _great_.” Minkle says the word like it’s part of an inside joke that Wally doesn’t know about. Dick does. The next moment Minkle is in a choke hold and Wally looks shocked.

Dick grips Minkle tighter. “Don’t you fucking touch him.”

“H-how...did.. You-”

“Don’t fucking worry about me. I’m not gonna let you touch him.” Dick cuts off Minkle’s air supply and black spots start to blur his vision.

“Dick! I’m okay!” Wally exclaims startled. He starts forward, looking frightened. “The plan remember! Stop! The plan!”

Dick grits his teeth and it takes all of the willpower he has to let Minkle go. He falls to the floor, gasping for air, which the piece of shit doesn’t deserve. Dick takes a moment, trying to collect himself. He shouldn’t have let himself fall apart like that. Dick knows why he did, and for a good reason, but he shouldn’t have let himself. He’s better than this. Dick lets out an exhale of air.

“You okay? What was that?” Wally asks Dick quietly by his side. Dick ignores him, afraid that the memory will overtake him again.

Dick crouches by Glarvis’s side. “You designed the robots for capturing the visitors at Xandar. For who?” He grits out.

“I...ain’t-”

Dick stabs Glarvis in the shoulder with his knife, pinning him to the floor. Minkle cries out, flailing as he tries to wrench it out. Dick steps on Minkle’s other arm, pressing down forcefully. “I need answers, Minkle.”

Minkle glares at Dick through the pain. “I know you. Y-you’ve been here before, stole some of my shit! I should kill you fa that!”

“Are you really in the position to be making threats?” Dick raises an eyebrow. “This is how it’s gonna go. You’re gonna tell me who you’re working for, it’s gonna happen. The only thing you have control over is when. You can tell me now and I can spare you some pain. Or, and I’m hoping you choose this way, you can be stubborn and I will skin you alive until you talk. So, which one is it gonna be, Mr. Minkle?” Dick’s voice drops into a calm whisper by the end of it.

Minkle hesitates and Dick presses down hard enough that even the teensiest amount of added pressure will break his arm in half. Minkle cries out, “Okay, _okay! It was Tivan_!”

“Fuck.” Dick curses to himself and steps off of Minkle. Minkle gives a sigh of relief and Dick stamps on his arm, breaking it. Minkle cries out painfully again and Dick kicks him in the face to shut him up. Minkle goes unconscious, thank god.  

“Great. Just great.” Dick runs a hand through his hair. “Let’s go, West.”

Wally is staring at Dick, pale in the face and his eyes wide, but complies. As they exit, a young man comes up to the door, looking distraught and anxious.

Dick turns to Wally. “Go ahead and get changed, I’ll be right there.”

Wally hesitates for a second, but decides to go. He looks back to see Dick gently approaching the red haired young man.

“Are you Jukla?” Dick asks softly.

“Y-yeah.” Jukla looks cautious at Dick. Dick can only imagine why and he really doesn’t want to imagine it.

“Look, you don’t have to tell me and I won’t pry, but I’m guessing that-that piece of shit in there doesn’t like the word ‘no’. Am I right?”

Jukla nods, his gaze at the ground. Jukla begins to shake and he hold his arms close to him. “I-I needed the units and my boss wouldn’t let me switch.”

“You don’t have to explain. I’m not here to judge.”

“He..I tried to say no, but he-” Jukla cuts himself off and looks like he might throw up.

“What if I told you right now he’s unconscious in there and I doubt he’ll be able to fight back.” Jukla’s head snaps up in surprise. “Do what you want. I won’t stop you.”

Jukla looks like he might throw up again, but for a different reason. He looks scared still, but Dick can see determination in his eyes and something that looks like relief.  Jukla doesn’t say anything and Dick doesn’t expect him to. Dick departs without a glance back.

* * *

Dick doesn’t say anything on the way back to the ship and neither does Wally. The rest of the team look at them concerned, Wally wouldn’t talk about what happened in there. He only said that they knew who it was.

Dick slumps into the pilot’s seat, rubbing his face. Fuck. It’s gonna be hard finding Tivan  and the rest of them. Fuck, fuck, fuck.

Wally sits with the team in the main deck silently. He’s never seen that side of Dick before, never. The calm, but deadly look in his eyes when he threatened Glarvis made his stomach flip just thinking about it. Not to mention Dick’s reaction at whatever Minkle said that triggered him. Sure, Minkle was creepy, but Wally has no clue what set Dick off. He’s really reluctant to know.

Three bangs sound through the main deck, startling Wally. He looks at the team, but they look as confused as him. The bangs sound again and Wally realizes that someone is knocking on the bay door. Wally fumbles, trying to figure out how to open it, but he gets it eventually. Once it’s opened, a blue haired, dark-skinned man steps in.

He blinks, his purple eyes looking a little taken aback. “Oh. Hello. I’m, uh, looking for Dick. Er, Nightwing. Um, who are you all?”

“We’re old friends of his.” Wally says, looking the stranger over. “Who are you?”

“I’m AJ. It’s nice to meet you. I didn’t know Dick had old friends.” AJ reaches his hand out and Wally shakes it.

“Wait, you’re AJ?” Artemis looking a little staggered. “Dick’s _ex_ ?”

“Yeah.” AJ drags it out a little, looking confused and feeling awkward. He rocks back on his feet. “Is Dick here or not?”

“Uh, yeah. Dick! Get out here! Now!” Artemis yells.

“What is i-AJ?” Dick looks confused.

AJ’s face lights up. “Dick. Gus told me you were here.”

“Yeah, I was going to go look for you, but I had other things to take care of first.” Dick’s scowls, but shakes it off. He steps forward and hugs him. “How are you?”

“Fine. I just wanted to...what’s wrong?” AJ mumbles, seeing Dick’s face.

“Let’s go talk somewhere else.” Dick says before he kisses AJ’s cheek. “I missed you though.”

“I missed you too.” AJ says as they start walking to Dick’s room. “Why are they all staring at us?” He murmurs to Dick.

“I don’t think they knew you were a guy or that I do guys.”

“Ah. Sorry for the shock, but you should close your mouths.” AJ directs at them before they close Dick’s door.

Dick sighs when they’re alone and flops on his bed. “I’m in a clusterfuck, Alo.”

“How bad?”

“Oh, it’s bad. I can’t tell you how bad. How’s Milo and Sailia?”

“Milo’s fine and the baby’s great. Thanks for telling us about the adoption agency.”

“No problem, I was happy to help. What’re you doing on Knowhere? I thought you left the life of crime behind when you became a doctor?”

“I did, but a friend of mine was in trouble, so I had to help. Now, it looks like another friend of mine’s in trouble.” He gives Dick a pointed look. “Talk.”

Dick explains everything to him and even talks about what happened at Minkle’s. AJ lays a comforting hand on Dick’s. “I know that wasn’t easy, letting him go. How it brought up….” AJ doesn’t say it. “I hope the boy will be okay.”

“I transferred a shit load of units to him, it should help.” Dick says dismissively. “I don’t know what to do about Tivan though. I know he’s not here anymore and, while I know why he wants the Infinity Stone, I don’t know where he is or the others.”

“You’ll figure it out. You always do.” AJ smiles. “You found Blo when he ran away.”

“Yeah, but that’s only because-....” Dick stands up. “AJ, I gotta go."

* * *

"Okay, so Blo is AJ's little brother. He ran away a few years ago and the only reason we found him was because we remembered that his girlfriend lived on Asgard. Asgard is home to Heimdall, who can see all."

"He can see _all_?" Conner asks dubiously.

"Yes, don't interrupt. Anyways, I did something for Heimdall and now he owes me a favour. So, I'm going to go to Asgard and see if he can see Peter and the rest of them."


End file.
